Oh No! He's "called" for something!

It’s all about the headline. He’ll issue the statement, calling for something that sounds decisive, and it’s only when you look closer you realise it’s all guff. For a start, he’ll pick a huge target, normally a multinational that’s never heard of the Irish Senate, never mind him. Then he’ll issue an ultimatum, and possibly demand that an Irish state agency back him up. It all sounds tough and brave and leadershipy.

Except it’s a bag o’ shite. He picks an issue that he claims is important, and a product that he claims causes or could cause huge harm to consumers, whilst ignoring drink, the most serious health issue facing Irish society, because his constituents actually want the right to harm themselves with that particular product. Even his threat is weak. He doesn’t actually have any intention to do anything if the multinational just ignores him. He won’t try to get the governing party, of which he is a member, to ban the product, because that would actually be quite a serious thing to do, and he doesn’t do serious. More than that, it would show that he’s actually of minor influence in the party anyway, a cause, at best, of eye-rolling in the PP and Dail bar.

He’s not a serious person. He’s just a collection of inane press releases. You could actually replace him with a preloaded iPad with a good wifi connection. Would have the same effect.